would you pay money for any gta v online content?

Darealbandicoot

No way, unless the content is really extensive like the GTA IV episodes.

The online mode needs something new. The recent DLCs have basically been military vehicles (which cost $X million, and requires you to grind the executive missions in a solo lobby, which you can only do IF you had enough money to even start the business in the first place). I would get paid DLC if it involves new characters, a proper story (doubt we will ever get that with GTA:O though lol), and more interiors. Oh, and a sh*t-ton of fun, unique missions. However, R*'s tactic is to release small DLCs with vehicles, clothing and new guns. I doubt any paid DLC will be significantly different.

I would prefer a single player DLC. Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Los Santos County.

Knowing absolutely nothing about the online portion of this game, BUT knowing the freemium business model very well, having played mobile games, as well as what I have heard about GTAO so far, I am not even a little surprised by what you say, when you mention that it costs a huge amount of GTA bucks to acquire these coveted new vehicles AND that it requires a lot of money to "start" the business in the game.

This is the big problem with the freemium business model, which was mostly used in mobile games, where you don't actually pay to download and play the game, but you are encouraged, through various in-game tactics, to buy IAP (In-App Purchases) in order to acquire assets, which often include in-game currency. In GTAO, that currency is GTA Bucks. This is all accomplished by the science of manipulating what freemium devs have aptly dubbed the in-game economy.

Spoiler

More to your point, and less of my ranting about the dirty tricks and corporate thuggery of the companies abusing the freemium business model (which Rockstar is, unfortunately, now one of them), you alluded to how difficult it is to "start a business" to get these new vehicles and items, right? Well, that is, in the end, how these freemium-thugs get you. They get huge numbers of people addicted to their game, and as time goes on, they tighten the reins on the player's ability to obtain these desirable assets by making them harder and harder to get.

This is done strategically in two ways, or rather, for two reasons:

1. If sales of the IAP begin to taper off, the devs and publishers collude to artificially increase interest in the older title by inflating the perceived value of newly released assets (such as the military vehicles you mentioned) in order to keep the game alive and drawing as much money for as long as possible. However, you should be aware that when this happens, it usually means the game's life expectancy is near its end, and the devs are scrambling to get you to spend, spend, spend, while you still perceive value in the e-items.

2. As time goes on, the in-game currency is not only continually priced overbearlingly high, but something else happens that makes things even more sticky: That currency is systematically and slowly devalued by a form of "inflation" similar to what you see in the economy of real nations, where the currency (money) is subject to a slow waning in its value over time, and its purchasing power decreases as the years go on. In freemium games, this inflation doesn't happen over decades, as you see in the economies of nations, but over months and a few years. But it has to happen in order to keep people buying more and more. This is how the whales are induced to keep pouring money.

If you want an interesting read, check out these articles on what mobile freemium devs have cynically nicknamed whales. It is both interesting and it shows how cravenly and opportunistic these devs are. That Rockstar has not only adopted this corrupt, freemium business model, but embraced it in their "full retail priced" game, is not a good sign at all for the future of GTA, to be honest. Because, as I have said many times, Take2 is, in essence, double-dipping, but that's another conversation.

By the way, I am not saying that all freemium devs are corrupt or abusive. Like any business model, particularly dealing with entertainment, there are ethical ways to create a great product, like a freemium game, and to monetize it in order to make money. There is nothing wrong with this. But the problem is that there is also the ability to abuse your customers by capitalizing on their social weaknesses and insecurities in order to either turn them into whales or to harpoon whales currently spending a fortune in other games by converting them to your whales. Again, that Take2 has adopted the most corrupt and cravenly version of this freemium marketing scheme could be a very bad sign for the future of GTA, as the money in harpooning the whales is so huge, it may actually outstrip the gross sales of a full retail, story oriented SP campaign like what we have all come to expect from GTA. Because it could very easily curtail any desire devs have of spending huge money and resources developing a top shelf game like GTA for the SP masses, if they begin to believe that there is more money in Freemium economics.

Which I think is a valid observation based on what we have seen thus far with all SP support for GTA pretty well abandoned.

It's not just more difficult to start a business, you have to be in a public lobby as well. So in other words, if you have a life outside GTA and haven't played in a while, some level 400+ in a flying bike or an APC will kill you and destroy your product. You have to change the internet settings on the console just so you can finish the missions without any problems (or just cycle through servers to find one without assholes). Then again, if the game wasn't filled with outrageous vehicles this wouldn't be a problem. Players with cashcards have a huge advantage when it comes to gunfights and they can travel without any problems. Rehashing the same missions but making them slightly different is not a good tactic, but the fanboys will be like "but FREE content!!!" "you don't have to buy the cashcards if you don't want to!".

IMO, the change of focus from SP to MP DLCs (and cashcards) became more obvious when The Benz was kicked out from R*. Back when he was there, they promised an SP DLC. But now it's clear that repetitive MP "DLC" is the direction the Housers and the higher-ups at T2 want to take (although I am pretty sure that it was The Benz' idea for the cashcards, IIRC). I have real worries about how RDR2 will pan out. RDR1 had a really fun multiplayer, but I really doubt that the sequel will be anything like it.

SP DLC would redeem R* somewhat in the eyes of many players, but SP DLC would only make R* a limited amount of money compared to repeated Online DLCs. "Cash is king" indeed. A high quality SP DLC would use up a fair share of their time if the whole team was involved, and since a fairly large portion of the staff are working solely on GTA:O, I doubt we will get an SP DLC anytime soon, if at all.

It's dead. Even I admit it. Releasing one if the planned SP Dlc's for GTA v right now would result in me sucking R* dry and forgiving them for the 4 years of neglect. But right now, gta online has given them cash dementia and since scroogy mc f*ck face Strauss Zelnick has confirmed, RDR2 was built from the ground up to incorporate microtransactions ooops "recurrent consumer spending" it looks like I will NOT pre order RDR2 or any R* game that isn't a remaster like LA Noire or the rumoured gta 4 remaster.